Boots Riley
Birthdate: Apr 1, 1971
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Boots Riley (birthname: Raymond Lawrence Riley) is one of the few American indie filmmakers who come out of political hip-hop (founded by musician Gil-Scott Heron), in which he was a major voice with his group as frontman, The Coup, as well as the Mau Mau Rhythm Collective and the subsequent group, Street Sweeper Social Club, with guitarist Tom Morello.
Riley expanded into filmmaking in 2018 when he took a 2012 album by The Coup and reconceived it as a highly imaginative feature film set in Oakland for which he was director/writer: Sorry to Bother You (2018), co-starring LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, Terry Crews, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun and Armie Hammer, produced in part by Forest Whitaker, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews and released to strong $18.3 million box office (based on estimated costs) for Annapurna Pictures (U.S.-Canada)/Focus Features-Universal Pictures (International).
Riley was director/writer of his second similarly surrealist comedy about Bay Area shoplifters, I Love Boosters (2026), starring Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza Gonzalez, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle and Demi Moore, produced by Ryder Picture Company/Annapurna Pictures/Savage Rose Films and released globally by Neon (U.S.-Canada) and Focus Features-Universal Pictures (International) after launching at the South by Southwest Film Festival.
Personal life
Boots Riley was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Chicago, Detroit, and Oakland, California, by his parents Anitra (a Russian-Jewish refugee from Germany) and Walter (of mixed Black and Native American Wampanoag heritage), who were both social justice organizers. Riley attended and graduated from Oakland High School, where he led a student walkout protest against Oakland city cutbacks of public schools. Riley’s height is 5’ 7½ ”.
Known For
Boots Riley Movies
director
Upcoming (1)
- 2026 |
I Love Boosters
A group of shoplifters take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven by stealing her clothes and reselling them at a lower price, what they call "fashion-forward philanthropy."
Previous (1)
- 2018 |
Sorry to Bother You
In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a universe of greed.
actor
Previous (4)
- 2023 |
- 2013 | 99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film
- 2007 | In Prison My Whole Life
- 2000 | Connected by Honor
Facts About Boots Riley
Major Cinema Influences: Boots Riley has cited his key filmmaking influences as filmmakers Stanley Kubrick and Sergei Parajanov, as well as Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), directed and written by Paul Schrader, and Black Cat, White Cat (1998) and Underground (1995) by director/writer Emir Kusturica.
Teen Activist: Riley was a member of the International Committee Against Racism at age 14 and/or the Progressive Labor Party at age 15.
Political Identity: Boots Riley identifies politically as a communist, and has been very active in grassroots activism, including teaching classes at East Oakland’s School of Social Justice and Community Development, teaching arts and organizing workshops at La Pena Cultural Center which led to the creation of a traveling “Guerilla Hip-Hop” roadshow in the East Bay, and his creation of the community organizing group, The Young Comrades.
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